Davis's Blog, Witches and Witchcraft

Every October, we all go about our lives celebrating Halloween without wondering where it came from. We simply collect our candy, dressing up in costumes, and embrace some of our darker sides for the night. The phrase “trick or treat” flies out of young children’s mouths without a thought of its meaning. Most people would be shocked to find out that the original holiday was a celtic pagan festival called “Samhain” to celebrate the new year. Costumes were worn to ward off spirits who visited the earth on that day. Even more surprising, the term Halloween came from the Catholic church renaming the day All Hallows Eve to celebrate the night before All Saints day on the 1st of November. As a Catholic myself, I always understood that there was some vague connection between the church and that time of the year, but I did not understand the direct ties and implications of the relationship. From 2nd through 5th grade at my local catholic elementary school, I can vividly recall back to back...

  A close examination of the accusations against Rebecca Nurse breaks many of the stereotypes that are associated with witches and provides a unique comparison to our current justice system.       Normally, when you watch a movie or even a kids show, witches are usually portrayed as snarly, old, and haggard. All you need to do is look towards classic examples like Snow White or Rapunzel. However, if you look to what happened in Salem and many other areas in Europe where witch trials occurred, older women were generally not the target. Most of those who were accused of witchcraft and eventually tried were younger women. Especially in Salem, the case of Rebecca Nurse definitely went against the grain in terms of target. It can almost be viewed as an anomaly in the same way that it was very rare for a man to be executed for witchcraft. The fact that it ended in an execution is very interesting as well because they gave her multiple opportunities to confess. It wa...